Print service providers (PSPs) are businesses and other entities that offer print and print-related services to customers, such as other businesses as well as individuals. Customers may provide printing jobs in digital form, such as physically on a computer-readable storage medium or electronically over a network like the Internet, which the PSPs then print as the customers desire. PSPs provide customers with a greater variety of printing capabilities than the customers may themselves otherwise have, and save the customers from having to perform the upkeep on printing devices if the customers themselves had to manage this equipment.
PSPs thus fulfill the demand for traditional print services by printing varied materials, such as photographs and brochures, course materials and books, as well as advertisements, product packaging, and other types of print materials. In a typical PSP facility, printing manufacturing includes on-demand manufacturing, such as producing photo books responsive to customer orders. A characteristic of such an on-demand business is a tight linkage between customer demand and manufacturing activity.